Law enforcement officials in Virginia arrested a man who drove his truck into a group of people protesting for George Floyd on Sunday. Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the man was a "leader of the Ku Klux Klan and a propagandist for Confederate ideology."

Police in Virginia released the mugshot of Harry Rogers, a 36-year-old who is being held without bond after he was charged with felony vandalism, assault and battery and attempted malicious wounding.

"While I am grateful that the victim’s injuries do not appear to be serious, an attack on peaceful protesters is heinous and despicable and we will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. The accused, by his own admission and by a cursory glance at social media, is an admitted leader of the Ku Klux Klan and a propagandist for Confederate ideology," Taylor said in a statement to the newspaper.

The situation revolves around a statue of A.P. Hill, a Confederacy general revered by the U.S. military in Virginia. The statue is in Richmond and stands on the site where Hill's remains are interred, making it a widely celebrated location for white supremacists and Ku Klux Klan members.

Rogers' girlfriend spoke to the Times-Dispatch and said that he was concerned the statue would be torn down like other Confederate statues across the South recently. She declined to give the newspaper her name but said Rogers went to the site to protect the statue and make sure it was not defaced.

Henrico Police Lt. A.M. Robertson wrote in a release that witnesses called 911 after Rogers tried to hit peaceful protesters walking near the statue.

“Several witnesses reported that a vehicle revved their engine and drove through the protesters occupying the roadway,” Robertson said.

Virginia Ku Klux Klan leader, Harry Rodgers (36) charged with assault and battery in addition to attempted malicious wounding, and felony vandalism. Suspect, Rodgers attempted to run over protesters at a Virginia #BlackLivesMatter

protest. KKK is a white supremacist hate group. pic.twitter.com/epH7Vd6f8Y

— Partisan Rock ???????????? (@DemocracyNow76) June 8, 2020

“We lived through this in Virginia in Charlottesville in 2017. I promise Henricoans that this egregious criminal act will not go unpunished. Hate has no place here under my watch,” Taylor told WTVR.

The local news outlet reported that Rogers told officers he was the president of the Ku Klux Klan in Virginia and the highest-ranking member of the group that was not currently in prison.

His next court date is in August.

The Guardian unearthed much more about Rogers' long history with white supremacist groups in the area. He was heavily involved in the Charlottesville protests that led to the death of Heather Heyer and subsequently disrupted another vigil to honor her passing.

Thess 3 photos have the same guy in all of them. Skip Rogers at a 2014 protest with the Virginia Flaggers, him at public demonstrations in his klan robes in 2016, and him at Unite the Right in 2017. pic.twitter.com/0VCYW1BgEQ

— Goad Gatsby (@GoadGatsby) December 28, 2018

There are now dozens of photos online showing Rogers in KKK regalia and at the Charlottesville march with Confederate flags.

AP-Hill

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